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EP-4145957-B1 - INDUCTION HEATING DEVICE AND OPERATION METHOD FOR SAME

EP4145957B1EP 4145957 B1EP4145957 B1EP 4145957B1EP-4145957-B1

Inventors

  • FUJITA, HAJIME

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220329

Claims (14)

  1. An inductive heating apparatus (100) configured to inductively heat a susceptor (110) of an aerosol-forming body (108) that includes the susceptor and an aerosol source, the inductive heating apparatus comprising: a power supply (102); an inductive heating circuit for inductively heating the susceptor; an alternating current generation circuit (132) for generating an alternating current from a power supplied from the power supply, wherein the alternating current is supplied to the inductive heating circuit; and a control unit (118) configured to, detect the susceptor, based on an impedance of a circuit including the inductive heating circuit, and start the inductive heating, in response to detection of the susceptor, characterized by further comprising a button (128), wherein the control unit is further configured to: return to a first mode in response to a predetermined operation being performed on the button after transitioning to a second mode in response to elapse of the predetermined period of time after transition to the first mode, wherein in the first mode, an impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied is measured, and in the second mode, the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied, is not measured.
  2. The inductive heating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating apparatus contains means for detecting a voltage and a current of said circuit including the inductive heating circuit, wherein the control unit is configured to obtain the impedance of the circuit based on the detected voltage and current; and wherein the means for detecting a voltage and a current include a voltage detection circuit and a current detection circuit.
  3. The inductive heating apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the control unit is configured to detect the susceptor after an operation of the button.
  4. The inductive heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit is further configured to: obtain a temperature of the susceptor, based on the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current that the alternating current generation circuit generates is supplied, wherein the control unit is configured to control the inductive heating, based on the obtained temperature.
  5. The inductive heating apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising, a connection unit (116) configured to enable connection with a charging power supply, wherein the control unit is further configured to execute processing of the first mode until an elapse of the predetermined period of time from when removal of the charging power supply from the connection unit is detected.
  6. The inductive heating apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 5, wherein the control unit is further configured to: in response to transitioning into the first mode, activate a timer so that a value increases or decreases according to an elapse of time from an initial value; in response to the value of the timer reaching a predetermined value, transition into the second mode; and in response to a predetermined operation being performed on the button, execute one of returning the value of the timer to an initial value, making the value of the timer closer to an initial value, and making the predetermined value farther from the value of the timer.
  7. The inductive heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control unit is further configured to measure the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied, at a resonance frequency of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied.
  8. The inductive heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control unit is further configured to detect a voltage and a current of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied, at a resonance frequency of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied.
  9. The inductive heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control unit, in a case where the impedance obtained from the detected voltage and current of the circuit including the inductive heating circuit is larger than a predetermined value, starts the inductive heating.
  10. The inductive heating apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising means for determining the impedance of the circuit including the inductive heating circuit.
  11. A method of operating an inductive heating apparatus (100) configured to inductively heat a susceptor (110) of an aerosol-forming body (108) that includes the susceptor and an aerosol source, the inductive heating apparatus comprising: a power supply (102); an inductive heating circuit for inductively heating the susceptor; and an alternating current generation circuit (132) for generating an alternating current from a power supplied from the power supply, wherein the alternating current is supplied to the inductive heating circuit, an control unit (118); and a button (128), wherein the method comprising operations executed by the control unit of: detecting the susceptor, based on an impedance of a circuit including the inductive heating circuit; and starting the inductive heating, in response to detection of the susceptor, characterized in that the method further comprising operations executed by the control unit of: returning to a first mode in response to a predetermined operation being performed on the button after transitioning to a second mode in response to elapse of the predetermined period of time after transition to the first mode, wherein in the first mode, an impedance of a circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied is measured and in the second mode, the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied is not measured.
  12. The method according to Claim 11, further comprising, a connection unit (116) configured to enable connection with a charging power supply, wherein the method further comprising an operation executed by the control unit of: executing processing of the first mode until an elapse of the predetermined period of time from when removal of the charging power supply from the connection unit is detected.
  13. A computer program comprising instructions that, when the computer program is executed by a computer, causes the computer to function as the induction heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
  14. A computer-readable storage medium on which is stored the computer program according to claim 13.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to an inductive heating apparatus capable of automatically starting the heating of an aerosol forming body. BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a device is known that generates an aerosol from an aerosol forming body by using an inductor disposed near the aerosol forming body having a susceptor and heating the susceptor by inductive heating (see PTL 1 to 3). CITATION LIST PATENT LITERATURE PTL 1: Japanese Patent No. 6623175PTL 2: Japanese Patent No. 6077145PTL 3: Japanese Patent No. 6653260 Document WO 2020/260886 A1 relates to a method and apparatus comprising: controlling a resonant circuit of an aerosol generating device, the resonant circuit comprising an inductive element for inductively heating a susceptor arrangement to heat an aerosol generating material to thereby generate an aerosol in a heating mode of operation; measuring a current flowing in the inductive element using a current sensor; and determining one or more characteristics of the aerosol generating device and/or the susceptor arrangement based on said measured current. Document KR 102 208 737 B1 relates to an induction heating device which heats by changing frequency according to the material of a susceptor. The induction heating device includes: a battery; a power boosting circuit for amplifying a DC voltage supplied from the battery; an induction logic for converting a DC current supplied from the power boosting circuit into an AC current; an induction coil generating a magnetic field by the AC current supplied from the induction logic; a susceptor which is induction-heated by an induction coil; a plurality of capacitors connected between the induction logic and the induction coil; capacitor switches connected to the plurality of capacitors, respectively; a control logic capable of turning on/off the capacitor switches; and an MCU controlling at least one or more among thereof. Document WO 2019/002613 A1 relates to an inductive heating device that is configured to receive an aerosol-generating article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate and a susceptor, the inductive heating device being configured to heat the susceptor when the aerosol-generating article is received by the inductive heating device. SUMMARY OF INVENTION TECHNICAL PROBLEM A first problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide an improved inductive heating device for generating an aerosol by heating an aerosol forming body. A second problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide an inductive heating apparatus capable of automatically starting to heat an aerosol forming body. A third problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide an inductive heating apparatus capable of handling the removal of an aerosol forming body. A fourth problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide an inductive heating apparatus capable of more appropriately heating an aerosol forming body. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM The present invention is defined with the appended independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are defined with the appended dependent claims. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided an inductive heating apparatus for inductively heating a susceptor of an aerosol forming body including the susceptor and an aerosol source. The inductive heating apparatus includes: a power supply; an alternating current generation circuit that generates alternating current from power supplied from the power supply; an inductive heating circuit for inductively heating the susceptor; and a control unit. The control unit is configured to detect the susceptor based on an impedance of a circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied, and start the inductive heating in response to the susceptor being detected. In one embodiment, the control unit may further be configured to obtain a temperature of the susceptor based on the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied; and control the inductive heating based on the temperature obtained. In one embodiment, the control unit can have at least a first mode, in which the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied is measured, and a second mode, in which the impedance of the circuit to which the alternating current generated by the alternating current generation circuit is supplied is not measured. In one embodiment, a connection unit configured to be capable of connecting to a charging power supply may be further included, and the control unit may further be configured to execute processing in the first mode until a predetermined time has passed after sensing that the charging power supply has been removed from the connection unit. In one embodiment, the inductive heating apparatus may further include a button, and th